Father and Daughter at Odds

Whoosh!

Beckett suddenly appeared before The Other, who was eating breakfast outside the punishment grounds.

His face was dark.

"Your Highness Beckett."

Woz, who had still been browsing the database nearby, rose to his feet and displayed all the information he had found before Beckett.

"That’s all?"

Having chosen to bury Hela’s words deep in his heart, Beckett took the food The Other had knowingly handed him, a hint of confusion surfacing in his eyes.

"Yes, Your Highness Beckett. Woz found very little information in Lord Thanos’s database regarding Odin’s previous actions."

As an Artificial Intelligence lifeform personally created by Thanos, the information Woz could access depended entirely on the database Thanos had established.

Thanos’s database had evidently recorded little information about Odin previously seeking out Celestial members for a one-on-one fight.

Or rather, Ebony Maw, Thanos’s intelligence chief, had been unable to gather it.

"Is that so…"

"Woz, remember to keep a close eye on Hela for me."

Ever mindful that he was still supposedly confined, Beckett carried the ample food The Other had prepared for him and stepped through the gates of the punishment grounds.

The soldiers guarding the punishment grounds stood in the distance, seeing nothing and hearing nothing as they completely ignored Beckett’s "confinement."

"Lord Thanos, why did you let Beckett hand the Mind Stone over to Odin’s daughter?"

Within the Dark Order base, Ebony Maw stood beside Thanos and watched Beckett vanish through the entrance to the punishment grounds on the screen. He lifted his gaze in confusion toward the king of the Centaurus Galaxy.

After all, the Infinity Stones were crucial tools for fulfilling Thanos’s lifelong ambition.

Never mind that Hela had merely borrowed it. Judging others by himself, Ebony Maw believed that, given that scoundrel Odin’s temperament, who knew what might happen once he saw the Mind Stone in his daughter’s hands.

"Hand it over?"

"No. It was merely a necessary test."

Thanos did not care how Hela would handle the Mind Stone. All he cared about was Odin’s attitude.

"Would a benevolent emperor who embraced virtue and comforted all living beings lay hands on his own daughter?"

The thought-provoking question left Ebony Maw unable to reply for a moment.

"Have Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, and Cull Obsidian all return."

"You will personally lead the team and seal off every passage around the punishment grounds."

"From now on, unless you receive my order, Beckett must not take even half a step out of the punishment grounds. Understood?"

Thanos had no habit of explaining himself to his subordinates. The string of orders left Ebony Maw greatly startled.

He wanted to ask why, but when he saw Thanos’s impassive face, he forcibly suppressed the urge and bowed. "Understood."

The former Black Order would gather together just to keep Beckett, the Dark Order’s fifth heavenly king, trapped within the punishment grounds?

Filled with doubts, Ebony Maw gradually disappeared from Thanos’s field of vision.

Odin…

Only after Ebony Maw left did Thanos bring up top-secret information that only he could view.

Odin’s portrait stood out sharply beneath the dim light.

Beside Odin’s portrait was a rectangular object glowing blue.

The Space Stone.

Jotunheim, borderlands.

Jotunheim was defined by its icy, snow-covered environment, and the Frost Giants, who had grown up under such extreme conditions, had always been Odin’s greatest obstacle in unifying the Nine Realms.

"Laufey, I’m here."

"As you can see, I came alone."

Odin spread his arms amid the ice and snow, demonstrating his sincerity in seeking peace.

He wore neither the restored Destroyer Armor nor carried Gungnir, said to be indestructible and never miss its target.

One set of ordinary clothes, one man, and two empty hands.

Odin had simply strode boldly into the territory of his sworn enemy, Laufey.

"Odin."

The frigid chill in the air gradually condensed with the sudden cry as Laufey’s towering figure slowly appeared before Odin.

The power inherited from his ancestral giant bloodline had not only kept Laufey from declining after he lost the Casket of Ancient Winters, but had instead elevated his strength to another level.

Especially after he took advantage of the World Tree being awakened by Beckett in his Super Saiyan state, returned to Jotunheim, and secretly stole some of the World Tree’s power, he had become thirty percent stronger than when his bloodline underwent its second awakening.

"We need to talk. About peace, Laufey." Even alone, Odin’s expression remained calm.

"Peace can still be discussed between you and me? Between Asgard and Jotunheim?"

Laufey could not believe it.

How could he not know what sort of man Odin had been in the past? He had been a complete war maniac.

Rather than believe Odin would voluntarily seek peace, Laufey would sooner believe that his future son would be utterly unlike a Frost Giant.

Because he envied Beckett and Hela, those two second-generation heirs, Laufey had been sowing his seed every few days since returning to Jotunheim. Yet so far, not a single woman had shown signs of pregnancy.

"I know that, given my current—"

"King! This is bad!"

"Asgard’s army! It’s Asgard’s army!"

"Odin’s daughter Hela has led Asgard’s army in an attack against us!"

The Frost Giant sentry’s warning abruptly cut off Odin’s words of peace.

"What?"

"Everyone! Target Laufey!!!!"

Blood-red radiance tore through the skies above Jotunheim’s borderlands alongside Hela’s roar.

Led by Hela, Asgard’s forces saw their power surge severalfold under the Mind Stone’s enhancement!

The Frost Giant defensive line clashing with them was ripped apart by Hela and her subordinates in the very first instant!

Fierce battle cries, dying lives.

When the tide of war descended upon Jotunheim once more, the brief peace shattered in an instant!

"Odin, is this the peace you spoke of?"

With a cold snort, the well-prepared Laufey waved his hand, and a united force composed of giant clans emerged from every direction.

"No! Laufey!"

Odin had never imagined that his daughter would lead troops directly into Jotunheim at this moment, and his expression turned extremely grim.

"Hela! Stop!"

The king’s roar resounded throughout Jotunheim, and time itself seemed to slow slightly beneath Odin’s shout…

A terrifying presence spread from Odin’s body. Having survived the Celestials and recovered from his injuries, Odin had clearly ascended to an even greater level of power.

His not particularly tall figure silently stood between the two warring armies, and his vast energy forcefully split the chaotic battlefield in two!

This power… As expected, Odin has grown stronger as well. After drawing upon the World Tree’s power to shield his subordinates, Laufey prepared himself for battle as well.

"Hela, what are you doing?!"

The fury in Odin’s heart churned as he looked expressionlessly at his daughter, the Mind Stone embedded in her brow.

"I am winning lasting peace for Asgard in my own way, Father."

Her clothes stained red with blood, Hela flexed her fingers and shielded the commanders who had attacked Jotunheim alongside her behind her. She spoke each word distinctly.

"Hela!"

Hearing this, Odin finally could no longer restrain the fury in his heart. His overwhelming aura erupted, causing strange lights to flash repeatedly in Hela’s eyes.

This was the father she knew. This was the guide who had led her onto the path of war!

"Do you know what you’re doing?!"

"No, but I know what you’re doing, Father." Hela met her father’s gaze without backing down.

"Asgard’s peace should not be the cheap peace gained through begging. That is what Grandfather and you taught me when I was little."

"We should be the undisputed overlords of the Nine Realms!"

Thanks to GGsbada, Yezi Botao, and Purity senior for the tips~